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Episode 101: Pilot
}} High school sweethearts Flash Gordon and Dale Arden meet up again, but there's a few problems -- Dale's engaged, Flash is being stalked, and a killer robot appears in the bowling alley. Also: Dr. Zarkov picks up a hitchhiker, Rankol gets under Flash's skin, Ming chooses a new concubine, Princess Aura has a wardrobe malfunction, and Baylin loses her ride home. Synopsis Opening The episode opens with Flash Gordon running a marathon and winning. His mother and his best friend Nick congratulate him. Meanwhile, on Mongo, Ming and Rankol open a rift to Earth and send in a probe. A rift is shown opening on Earth and the probe exits from it and flies away. Back to the marathon, Flash is named the first three-time winner of the tristate running marathon and is given a medal. Afterwards, Nick informs Flash that Dale Arden is there, covering the marathon for the news. Then, Flash and Dale have a private conversation. Dale reveals that she has her own apartment and Flash reveals that he still lives at home with his mom. Nick and Flash have a shop near his mom's house and his mom usually travels for work, so Flash says that it all works out pretty well. Then they decide to do Flash's interview. After the interview, Flash and Nick are walking away, discussing how pathetic his live is compared to Dale's. Nick assures him that he's a good son to be still living with his mother, but Flash feels that by now he should have his own apartment. Then they decide to go eat, but first Flash goes to visit his father's grave at the cemetery. He puts his marathon medal by the grave and has a flashback to when he was younger, showing him running up to his house and his father saying that from then on his name would be Flash instead of Steven, because he's a fast runner. That night, a Spanish-speaking man who's driving his truck notices a strange flying object (the probe from Mongo) outside his window. He stops his truck and gets out to look at it. The probe scans him. But before it flies away, the man shoots it down with his rifle. Flash and Nick try to get into a nightclub free, but Nick ends up paying. As they're waiting outside, Flash notices a peculiar man in an RV watching him. When he approaches, the man drives his RV away, requiring Flash to run after it. When he catches up, he climbs up the ladder at the back of the RV and walks on the roof while the vehicle is still in motion. Flash drops down in front of the windshield and tells the driver to stop. He does and tries to escape, but Flash catches him before he has a chance. Flash asks who he is, but he evades the question by saying that he's no one. Then Flash asks him again and this time the man says that he used to work for Flash's father as his assistant. Flash knew that his father was a physics professor, but he didn't know about his work on the Portage Initiative. Flash asks him what that is, but he doesn't say. Instead he tells Flash that if he ever sees his father to tell him to trust no one. Flash grabs the man and tells him that his father is dead. Then the man says "Yes, of course", then gets back in his RV. He tells Flash that he won't bother him again, right before driving away. The next morning, Flash and his mom are in the kitchen. He says that he met a man the previous night who said that he worked with his father on something called the Portage Initiative. When Flash says that, his mother becomes nervous. Flash asks her if she had ever heard of the Portage Initiative and she says that she never did, that Flash's father never talked about work. Flash knows that his mother wasn't telling the truth and he pushes her further. She says that he did some work outside of the university. But she doesn't know what kind of research it was and unknown men took away all of his papers. She tells Flash to not go poking around in it. He tells her that this is about his dad and asks her if she wants to know what happened to him. She tells Flash that she does know what happened to him. He was killed in a fire, but there was no body found. His mom tells him to let it go. The project cost her a husband, she doesn't want it to cost her a son too. Flash has another flashback from when he was younger. In this one, he notices a bright light emanating from beneath one of the doors in his home. He knocks on the door and the light disappears. He father opens the door and say the light that Flash saw was from the TV, but he tells his dad that it wasn't TV light. His father then tells him to go to bed. After the flashback, Flash leaves the kitchen with determination. Act 1 DVD A DVD release of the pilot, Flash Gordon: The Premiere Episode, was sold as an exclusive at Best Buy, released on August 14, 2007. The DVD includes the 65-minute episode, as well as deleted scenes, storyboards and sketches. Ratings The pilot earned a 1.5 household rating from Nielsen Media Research, representing approximately 2.1 million viewers. This rating beat other recent Sci Fi Channel premieres, Painkiller Jane (1.3) and The Dresden Files (1.4). "[http://www.syfyportal.com/news424041.html Flash Gordon Pulls In Decent Premiere Ratings]", SyFy Portal, Michael Hinman. August 13, 2007. First words *Flash Gordon: "Thanks for being here with me today, guys. It's a perfect day!" *Dale Arden: "Hey, Flash." *Baylin: "Remain still, and you will receive no pain." *Dr. Hans Zarkov: "Please don't touch me. I don't like being touched." *Ming: "It's glorious, Rankol. The gateway to a new world." *Rankol: "Ready the probe." *Aura: "My name is Chianza, I'm one of Ming's abbotts. They're talking about you; is it true you're from another world?" *Joe Wylee: "This is a closed crime scene, no press." *Joely Lavant: "WIAD-4 news. Can we get a few words with you?" *Nick Gilmore: "That's my boy!" *Norah Gordon: "Oh, your father would have been so proud." *Lawrence Gordon: "Well, I'd say we made a mistake calling you Stephen. From now on, I'm calling you Flash." Cast Regulars *Eric Johnson: Flash Gordon *Gina Holden: Dale Arden *Karen Cliche: Baylin *Jody Racicot: Dr. Hans Zarkov *John Ralston: Ming Guest starring *Jonathan Lloyd Walker: Rankol *Anna van Hooft: Aura *Giles Panton: Joe Wylee *Panou: Nick Gilmore *Carmen Moore: Joely Lavant *Jill Teed: Norah Gordon *Adrian Holmes: Earl Featuring *Alejandro Abellan: Ernesto Lupe *Spencer Achtymichuk: Young Flash *Roy Earl Campsall *David Coles *Lynn Colliar *Bruce Dawson: Lawrence Gordon *Benjamin Easterday: Bouncer *Rick Faraci: Prisoner *Elan Ross Gibson *Catherine Lough Haggquist *Cherise Jacques *Ian Marsh: Mongo prison guard *Raquel Riskin: Ming's handmaiden *Rick Rosenthal: Bowling alley owner *Emilio Salituro: Bowler *Robbie Segulam Stunts *Brett Armstrong *Darryl Scheelar External links *"Flash Gordon: The saviour of the Universe returns", Zap2it blog review. References }} 101 __NOEDITSECTION__